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MAUD WILDER GOODWIN 
ALICE CARRINGTON ROYCE 
RUTH PUTNAM 




King's College 

now 

Columbia University 

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^JOHN B. 
^PINE 



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VoLDME I. Number 2 



King's College: now Columbia University 
1754-1897 

By John B. Pine 

In a letter to the Secretary of the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, written 
in 1702, during the reign of Queen Anne, Governor 
Lewis Morris quaintly and prophetically observes : 

*^ The Queen has a Farm of about 32 Acres of Land, 
wch Rents for ^36 p. Ann : Tho the Church War- 
dens & Vestry have petitioned for it & my Ld four 
months gave ym a promise of it the proceeding has 
been so slow that they begin to fear the Success wont 
answer the expectation. I believe her Maty, would 
readily grant it to the Society for the asking. N. York 
is the Center of English America & a Proper Place for 
a CoUedge,— & that Farm in a little time will be of 
considerable Value, & it's pity such a thing should be 
lost for want of asking, wxh at another time wont be 
so Easily obtained." 

Copyright, 1896, by Maud Wilder Goodwin, 
31 



Governor Morris's letter contains one of the earliest 
references to the '' Queen's " or " King's " Farm, as it 
was generally called, and also offers the first suggestion 
of founding a college in the province of New York. 
Some fifty years elapsed before that event occurred. 
On October 31, 1754, a charter was granted to The 
Governors of the College of the Province of 
New York in the City of New York in America, 
providing for the establishment of a college, to be 
known as ''King's College," ''for the Instruction 
and Education of Youth in the Learned Languages 
and in the Liberal Arts and Sciences." The charter 
named as governors the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
the governor of the province, and certain officers of 
the crown, ex officio, and twenty-four residents of the 
city. It also provided that the Rector of Trinity 
Church and the ministers of the Reformed Dutch, 
Lutheran, French, and Presbyterian Churches, for 
the time being, should be ex-officio governors ; and in 
this respect, as well as in the prohibition of any 
religious discrimination, indicated the broad and 
non-sectarian character of the contemplated college. 
The delivery of the charter was delayed for some 
months by the opposition of those who were appre- 
hensive that the institution would be controlled by 
the Church of England, but their fears must have 
been allayed by the very first act of the governors, 
who, on their acceptance of the charter on May 7, 
1755, voted unanimously to petition for a supplement- 
ary charter permitting the establishment of a profes- 
sorship of divinity in conformity with the doctrine 

32 . . ; 



established by the Synod of Dort. The additional 
charter was subsequently granted, but the professor- 
ship has yet to be established. 

On June 3, 1755, was adopted the device for the 
seal of King's College, which continues to be that 
of Columbia University, with only the necessary 
alteration of name. The college is represented by a 
lady sitting on a throne of state, with several children 
at her knees to represent the pupils, and a reference 
to First Peter, indicating the spirit in which they 
should seek for true wisdom. She holds open a book, 
the " Living Oracles," and from her mouth proceed 
the words in Hebrew, '' God is my light." At her 
feet is the motto, In lumine Tuo videbimus 

LUMEN. 

In anticipation of the granting of the charter, the 
friends of the college had secured the services of the 
Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson, of Stratford, as president. 
They were singularly fortunate in their choice, as 
he was a man of broad and sound scholarship and of 
remarkably liberal and advanced views. He had 
been much sought after by other institutions of learn- 
ing, and had resisted the earnest solicitations of Ben- 
jamin Franklin to assume the charge of the academy 
which afterwards developed into the University of 
Pennsylvania. The first prospectus, issued by Dr. 
Johnson, May 31, 1754, shows that he aimed to make 
King's College something more than a training school 
for the church ; he destined it to have a far wider 
scope than the ordinary college of that day, and the 
plan of education which he proposed seems almost 
33 



to contemplate the modern university. After stating 
that '^ the chief thing that is aimed at in this College 
is to teach and engage children to know God and 
Jesus Christ, and to love and serve him," he goes on 
to say : '* It is further the design of this College to in- 
struct and perfect the Youth in the Learned Languages, 
and in the Arts of reasoning exactly, of writing cor- 
rectly and speaking eloquently ; and in the Arts of 
numbering and measuring; of Surveying and Navi- 
gation, of Geography and History, of Husbandry, 
Commerce and Government, and in the Knowledge of 
all Nature in the Heavens above us, and in the Air, 
Water and Earth around us and the various kinds of 
Meteors, Stones, Mines and Minerals, Plants and 
Animals, and of everything useful for the Comfort, 
Convenience and Elegance of life, in the chief 
Manufactures relating to any of these things." The 
broad lines which Dr. Johnson laid down may be 
traced through a century and a half, and in the 
University of Columbia as now constituted, with its 
college preserving the classic traditions, and its 
schools of Political Science, or "Government," of 
"Mines and Minerals," and of Pure Science 
embracing " the knowledge of all nature," the 
early prospectus has found a complete and literal ful- 
filment. 

Dr. Johnson was at first the sole instructor, and 
with a faculty thus constituted the new college began 
its sessions, July 17, 1754, in the schoolhouse belong- 
ing to Trinity Church. The first class consisted of 
Samuel Verplanck, Rudolph Ritzema, Philip Van 
34 



Cortlandt, Robert Bayard, Samuel Provoost, Thomas 
Martson, Henry Cruger, and Joshua Bloomer. 

Trinity Church having in the interval acquired 
title to the King's Farm, the rector and church war- 
dens forthwith delivered to the governors a lease and 
release of that portion of the farm lying on the west 
side of Broadway, between Barclay and Murray Streets, 
and extending do^vn to the Hudson River, described 
as being " in the skirts of the City." Steps were at 
once taken to procure plans for suitable buildings, 
and to raise money with which to erect them; liberal 
contributions were received, and on August 23, 1756, 
the comer-stone of King's College was laid by Sir 
Charles Hardy, then governor of the province. The 
occasion is described in the Weekly Posl Boy : '' Our 
Lieutenant Governor with the Governors of the Col- 
lege and Mr. Cutting the Tutor with the students met 
at Mr. Willett's and thence proceeded to the House 
of Mr. Vandenburgh, at the Common, whither his 
Excellency came in his chariot, and proceeded with 
them about One O'clock to the College ground, near 
the River on the Northwest side of the City. . . • 
After the stone was laid a Health was drunk to his 
Majesty and success to his Arms, and to Sir Charles 
Hardy, and Prosperity to the College." President 
Johnson delivered a brief address in Latin : '' Which 
being done, the Governors and Pupils laid each his 
stone, and several other Gentlemen, and then they re- 
turned to Mr. Willett's ; where there was a very ele- 
gant dinner; after which the usual loyal Healths were 
drunk, and Prosperity to the College; and the whole 



35 



was conducted with the utmost decency and pro- 
priety." The stone, which has fortunately been pre- 
served, bears the following inscription : 

HVJVS COLLEGII, REGALIS DICTI, REGIO DIPLOMATE CONSTITVTI 

IN HONOREM DEI O.M. ATQ : IN ECCLESI^ REIQ : PVBLIC^ 

EMOLVMENTVM, PRIMVM HVNC LAPIDEM POSVIT VIR PR^CEL 

LENTISSIMVS, CAROLVS HARDY, EQVES AVRATVS, HVJVS PROVINCI/E 

PR^FECTVS DIGNISSIMVS. AVGTI. DIE 23O, AN. DOM. MDCCLVI. 

In 1760 the fact is noted in the records that " the 
College buildings were so far completed that the offi- 
cers and students began to lodge and mess therein." 
In honor of George II., and in accordance with the 
terms of the charter, the building thus completed was 
designated '' King's College," and the original crown 
which surmounted it remains, a witness to its royal 
foundation. The Rev. Dr. Burnaby, an English 
traveller, writes : '^ The College when finished will 
be exceedingly handsome. It is to be built on three 
sides of a quadrangle fronting Hudson's or North 
River, and will be the most beautifully situated of 
any College, I believe, in the world " ; and the col- 
lege is described as it existed in 1773 as distant 
about a hundred and fifty yards ''from the Hudson 
River, which it overlooks, commanding from the emi- 
nence on which it stands a most extensive and beau- 
tiful prospect." The building was planned to com- 
prise three sides of a quadrangle, facing south. The 
portion completed at this date included a chapel, a 
residence for the president, several lecture halls and 
rooms for a number of students, and a *' college hall " 
36 



where the students dined. The students were required 
to lodge and diet in college, to wear caps and gowns, 
and to be within gates at certain hours. Evidently it 
was true of the social life of the college as of the 
*' plan of education," that it was '' copied in the most 
material parts from Queen's College, Oxford." Gen- 
eral Washington entered his stepson John Parke 
Custis as a student in the college, and from the cor- 
respondence with President Cooper we learn that the 
tuition fee was five pounds per annum, room rent 
four, and board at the rate of eleven shillings a 
week. 

During the exciting years preceding the Revolution 
the students seem to have taken an active interest in 
political affairs. It is related that a number of them 
participated in the affair with the sailors of the 
" Asia," and assisted in rescuing cannon and ammu- 
nition which were stored on the battery ; and Alex- 
ander Hamilton had become a conspicuous figure 
before the end of his sophomore year. Dr. Johnson 
resigned his office in 1763, and was succeeded by 
the Rev. Myles Cooper, A.M., a fellow of Queen's. 
College, Oxford. He was a man of much culture and 
refinement, an able instructor, of a genial disposi- 
tion, and both a wit and a versifier. He was but 
twenty-six years of age when elected president, and 
was earnestly devoted to the college and 'active in 
promoting its interests, especially in England, as 
shown by the numerous gifts received from Oxford. 
His political opinions, however, rendered him ex- 
tremely unpopular during the later years of his ad- 
37 



ministration ; for he was an ardent Tory, and expressed 
his views with the utmost freedom. On May lo, 
1775, he wrote to a friend, ''Whilst I stay in this 
country of confusion, which for the sake of the Col- 
lege, I am minded to do as long as I can with any 
degree of prudence " ; and on the same night a mob 
broke into the college grounds intent upon doing him 
violence. Hamilton and Robert Troup, a fellow stu- 
dent, kept the mob at bay by haranguing them from 
the steps of the president's house, until Dr. Cooper 
had time to escape over the back fence in the scan- 
tiest of apparel. On the following day he took refuge 
on the " Kingfisher," an English sloop-of-war, and 
soon afterwards sailed for England. His Tory prin- 
ciples seem to have had little effect upon his students, 
some of whom were afterwards among the foremost 
champions of liberty in the cabinet and on the field 
— Jay and Livingston, Morris and Benson, Van Cort- 
landt and Rutgers, Troup and Hamilton; but his 
extreme partisanship was doubtless reflected upon 
the college, and tended to render it unpopular for the 
time being. 

In April, 1776, upon the request of the Commit- 
tee of Safety, the college was prepared for the recep- 
tion of troops, the students were dispersed, and the 
library and apparatus were removed to the City Hall. 
During the Revolution the buildings were used both 
by the American and British troops as barracks and 
for hospital purposes. 



38 



COLUMBIA COLLEGE 

The college exercises, suspended during the pen- 
dency of hostilities, were resumed in 1784. On 
May I, 1784, an act was passed by the Legislature of 
the State of New York, entitled An Act for grant- 
ing CERTAIN PRIVILEGES TO THE COLLEGE HERETO- 
FORE CALLED King's College, for altering 

THE NAME AND CHARTER THEREOF, AND ERECTING 

AN University within the State. Under this 
act the administration of the college passed to 
the Regents of the University of the State of New 
York, and the college received the name '' Colum- 
bia " — ''a word and name then for tl?e first time 
recognized anywhere in law and history ' ' — ^but which 
had already gained a patriotic and national signifi- 
cance in a popular song of the Revolution, " Colum- 
bia, Columbia, to glory arise." 

The Regents met forthwith, and proceeded with 
commendable energy to reorganize the college and to 
raise means for its support. They voted to establish 
four faculties— arts, divinity, medicine, and law : the 
first to consist of seven professorships ; the second, of 
such professorships as might be established by the 
different religious denominations; the third to be 
composed of seven professorships, and the last of 
three. In addition, there were to be a president, a 
secretary, and a librarian, and nine extra professors. 
But in projecting a scheme of such liberality the 
Regents were far in advance of the times and of 
39 



their income, which amounted to but twelve hundred 
pounds. During the brief period of their control 
they were able to carry the plan into execution only 
to the extent of establishing a faculty of arts, com- 
prising professors of mathematics, Greek and Latin, 
geography, natural history, French, German and the 
Oriental languages, and natural philosophy ; and a 
faculty of medicine, comprising professors of chem- 
istry, anatomy, surgery, midwifery, and the institutes 
and practice of medicine. The college was opened 
May 19, 1784, under its new name and government, 
and DeWitt Clinton entered as its first student. 

Experience soon demonstrated that the Regents of 
the University, as State officers, residing in different 
parts of the State, were not well constituted for 
administrative purposes. Accordingly, three years 
later, the separate identity of the college was restored, 
and by an act, said to have been drawn by Alexander 
Hamilton, passed April 13, 1787, its government was 
transferred to The Trustees of Columbia College 
IN THE City of New York, as the corporation has ever 
since been known. The trustees found a worthy suc- 
cessor to the first president in his son, William Samuel 
Johnson, LL.D. He had gained distinction as a spe- 
cial commissioner to England, where he resided for 
five years ; as a judge ; and as the representative of 
Connecticut in the Colonial Congress and in the 
Constitutional Convention of 1787. He was elected 
president of Columbia, May 21, 1787, and held that 
office conjointly with that of Senator from Connec- 
ticut while Congress held its sessions in New York. 
40 



On the occasion of the first commencement of the 
college under its new name, held April lo, 1787, the 
Legislature, upoti the motion of Alexander Hamilton, 
adjourned in order that its members might attend; 
and in 1789 the commencement was honored by the 
presence of President Washington and all the princi- 
pal officers of the Government of the United States. 

At the time of Dr. Johnson's accession there were 
thirty-nine students in the college, a portion of whom 
lodged and boarded in the college. The income of 
the college was about ^1,330. The faculties of arts 
and medicine consisted of three professors each. In 
1792 the medical faculty was reestablished on a 
broader basis, mth seven professors, andlDr. Samuel 
Bard as dean. In the following year James Kent was 
elected professor of law, and his lectures, afterwards 
expanded into his " Commentaries on American 
Law," are said to '^ have had a deeper and more last- 
ing influence in the formation of national character 
than any secular book of the century." Under grants 
from the Legislature, the library, which had been dis- 
persed and almost entirely lost during the Revolution, 
was enlarged, and a professor of moral philosophy 
and logic was appointed ; but the suspension of legis- 
lative assistance after a few years so reduced the 
income of the college as to retard further progress. 
This financial condition unhappily prevailed for many 
years, and rendered it impossible to carry into effect 
the educational advances projected by the Regents, 
revived by the trustees in 18 10, and again put forward 
in 1857. Gradual advances were made under the ad- 
41 



ministration of Bishop Moore, who succeeded Dr. 
Johnson as president ; and the fact that the services 
rendered by the college were fully commensurate with 
its resources is evidenced by its long list of honorable 
and distinguished graduates. DeWitt Clinton had 
opened the Erie Canal ; Chancellor Livingston, 
another graduate, recognizing the genius of Fulton, 
had supplied the means which led to the development 
of steam navigation; John Stevens, of the Class of 
1768, had introduced the steam railway and the 
screw propeller; and to all the professions, as well 
as to church and state, Columbia had contributed 
her full quota. 

In 1 8 10 the course of study in arts was broadened, 
and the requirements for admission considerably in- 
creased. In 181 2 the first scholarships were estab- 
lished, and the nomination placed in the gift of the 
Alumni Association; and within the next twenty 
years the number of scholarships was largely increased, 
and the several religious denominations, as well as 
a number of educational and philanthropic institu- 
tions, were given the privilege of appointing scholars. 

In 1813 the medical faculty was consolidated with 
the " College of Physicians and Surgeons," a separate 
corporation then recently established, and medical 
instruction ceased to be a part of the curriculum. In 
1 8 14 the college received a grant of a tract of land 
known as the Hosack Botanical Garden, comprising the 
twenty acres lying between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, 
Forty-seventh and Forty-ninth Streets, as compensa- 
tion for lands previously granted to it, but ceded to 
42 



New Hampshire on the settlement of the boundary. 
This tract, which is still owned by the college, and is 
now one of its principal sources of income, was for a 
long period a hea^y drain upon the slender resources of 
the institution, and its retention, under all the circum- 
stances, is an evidence of the courage and foresight 
of the trustees. At the time this grant was made the 
city scarcely extended above the City Hall, and north 
of that the island was entirely farming land. 

After the Revolution an effort was made to restore 
the buildings to a condition suitable for educational 
purposes; but the result was not fully accomplished 
until 1820, when two wings were added, greatly in- 
creasing the capacity and convenience c^ the build- 
ings. A chapel and a library were also built, and in 
1829 a building for a grammar school was erected 
adjacent to the college. President Moore, in his me- 
morial address, presents a pleasing picture of '' the 
stately sycamores on the Green, the old buildings, the 
great staircase, the Chapel, with its strange hanging 
gallery." And Mr. Jay, in his Centennial address, 
tells us that these venerable trees had an historic 
interest from the fact, which as a boy he heard from 
the lips of Judge Benson, that they were carried to 
the Green and planted by the Judge himself, and 
by Chief Justice Jay, Chancellor Livingston, and 
Recorder Harrison, all of whom were alumni. 

A member of the Class of '39 gives the following 

description of the college as it appeared in his day, 

when it "occupied a plot of ground bounded by 

Church Street, Murray Street, and College Place. 

43 



The building was of brick, covered with stucco, 
painted light brown, with trimmings of free stone. 
The front was to the south. At the east and west 
ends, respectively, were two houses occupied by mem- 
bers of the faculty, which projected considerably 
beyonci the middle buildings ; all were three stories 
high, and there was an old-fashioned belfry in the 
middle; it was a picturesque old structure, unmis- 
takably academic. In front was a Green of consider- 
able size, bordered by large sycamores. The place 
had an air of conventual quiet and seclusion, and 
was delightful in summer when the shadows of the 
broad leaves rested on the light brown walls and the 
flagstones of the walk. The middle of the edifice 
was devoted to the chapel and library. The latter 
occupied the second floor, and on the floor below were 
the lecture rooms. The location was about the centre 
of the fashionable part of the city." 

In the midst of these surroundings, under the suc- 
cessive presidencies of the Rev. William Harris, 
William Alexander Duer, Nathaniel F. Moore, a son 
of Bishop Moore, and li*ke his father an alumnus, 
and Charles King, the college continued its work with 
gradually increasing vigor and usefulness. Most of 
its offices were filled by alumni— -Professors McVickar, 
Moore, Anthon, Renwick, and Anderson being all 
graduates, and all men of singular worth and ability. 
Professor Anderson was a man of exceptional mathe- 
matical ability, and a linguist of unusual attain- 
ments. Professor Renwick, who occupied the chair 
of chemistry for thirty-three years, was the author of 
44 



" Outlines of Natural Philosophy," the first extended 
work on the subject published in the United States. 
Professor McVickar, who occupied the chair of moral 
and intellectual philosophy and political economy for 
some forty years, and was afterwards transferred to 
that of evidences of natural and revealed religion, 
was a man of wide attainments, as the scope of his 
professorship would indicate. He gave the first series 
of lectures on political economy ever delivered in an 
American college, and in 1825 he published what is 
probably the earliest work on the subject issued in 
this country. Professor Anthon's editions of the 
Greek and Latin authors have carried his name wher- 
ever the classics are taught, and made i^synonymous 
with sound scholarship. 

The educational work of the college at this time 
was all that could be desired in quality, and efforts 
were constantly being made to extend it. In 1830 a 
scientific and literary course was established, which 
omitted the classics and offered a wider range of Eng- 
lish and the sciences, but it was apparently in advance 
of the demands of the day. Again in 1857 a very 
extensive reorganization was determined upon. A 
statute was adopted making provision for a very lib- 
eral undergraduate course and providing for a univer- 
sity course of study, and the establishment of three 
schools: A School of Letters, including moral and 
mental philosophy, the Greek and Latin languages 
and literatures. Oriental and modem languages, com- 
parative philology and ethnology ; a School of Science, 
including mechanics and physics, astronomy, chem- 
45 



istry and mineralogy, geology and palaeontology, engi- 
neering, mining and metallurgy, natural history and 
physical geography ; a School of Jurisprudence, to in- 
clude history, political economy, political philosophy, 
national and international law, and civil and common 
law. The '^ university course " so projected was far 
in advance of anything offered or attempted by any 
institution in America at that day, and displayed a 
remarkable degree of foresight and wisdom. It was 
beyond the means of the college, and evidently was 
not appreciated by the public, as no considerable 
demand was evinced for the greatly increased opportu- 
nities which it offered, nor was additional support 
forthcoming. The faculty of arts was enlarged by the 
addition of several professors, including Francis 
Lieber, who was appointed to the chair of history and 
political sqience, the title of which was afterwards 
changed to constitutional history and public law, and 
his lectures were doubtless an inspiration to many of 
the large number of students who subsequently served 
their country in the War of the Rebellion. A direct 
result of the new statute was the establishment of the 
Law School as now constituted. In 1793 Chancellor 
Kent was appointed professor of law, as already men- 
tioned, and he then held the position for five years. He 
was reappointed in 1823 and continued in the office 
until 1847, and was succeeded by Mr. William Betts, 
who lectured for several years. In 1858 Professor 
Theodore W. D wight was appointed, and the school 
rapidly assumed its present importance and became a 
permanent part of the college. 
46 



While these educational developments were under 
consideration, plans for the removal of the college 
were also occupying the attention of the trustees. 
The fact that its original site had become unsuitable 
had long been recognized, though for many years the 
college green preser^^ed its verdure and tranquillity in 
the midst of encroaching commerce. By degrees it 
was intersected with streets: ''Chapel Street" and 
" College Place " for a time marked the site, but even 
these have now lost their identity in West Broadway. 
In 1854 the trustees determined upon removal, but the 
exercises were continued until May 7, 1857, when 
the last service was held in the old chapel, the ancient 
corner-stone was disinterred from its Idtig resting- 
place to be borne to its new home, and the halls 
which had echoed to the march of history were aban- 
doned forever. 

A portion of the Botanical Garden, between Fifth 
and Sixth Avenues, Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Streets, 
was selected as the site to which the college should 
be removed from Murray Street, and Mr. Upjohn was 
employed to prepare a design for the new buildings. 
The execution of this project, however, was found to 
be impracticable, for the time being, on account of 
the expense involved; and in November, 1856, the 
trustees purchased of the Institution for the Instruc- 
tion of the Deaf and Dumb twenty lots situated on 
Madison Avenue, between Forty-ninth and Fiftieth 
Streets. The purchase was made upon favorable 
terms, and the action of the trustees was influenced 
largely by the fact that the buildings of the institution 
47 



were available for the immediate use of the college, 
with but slight alterations. The opening services were 
held in the chapel of the '' New College," as it was 
called, May 12, 1857. The buildings consisted of a 
large edifice of brick and brown stucco, standing on 
the high ground near Fiftieth Street, with adjacent 
buildings at either end, one of which served as a 
chapel, and the other as a residence for professors. 
President King and his family at first occupied rooms 
in the main building, which also furnished a number 
of class and lecture rooms. The principal architec- 
tural feature of the central building was a lofty por- 
tico ; and the group of buildings, shaded by a row of 
fine old trees, on a beautiful lawn sloping southward, 
presented a pleasing and dignified appearance. " The 
present location of the College ' ' is described in a 
contemporary newspaper as ** a delightful one, and 
undesirable only on account of the distance up town. 
. . . The site is on a commanding eminence, 
affording an extensive and pleasant view." 

Subsequently, the trustees purchased the lots com- 
prising the remainder of the block, including a fac- 
tory, which was afterwards used for the School of 
Mines. The buildings continued to be occupied with 
but little change until i860, when the president's 
house was erected. In the same year, by an agreement 
between the two institutions, the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons became the medical department of 
Columbia College. In 1864 the trustees elected to the 
presidency the Rev. Frederick A. P. Barnard, S.T.D., 
a profound student of education, in sympathy with all 



forms of higher development, literary as well as scien- 
tific ; a man of extraordinarily wide attainments, of an 
enthusiastic and progressive temperament. Of his in- 
fluence upon the college, Dean Van Amringe writes : 
*' He gave vitalizing force to the extension and liber- 
alization of the undergraduate course, to the found- 
ing of fellowships for the encouragement and assist- 
ance in their higher studies of earnest and able young 
men ; to the extension of the library and the liberal- 
ization of its management ; to the project of a course 
for the higher study of political and historical sub- 
jects, and to the scheme for a broad and liberal system 
- of postgraduate or university instruction, which the 
college had long but vainly desired." % 

The School of Mines was at this time in its incipi- 
ency, but with his earnest support its faculty were 
soon able to make it the leading, as it was almost if 
not quite the first, school of its kind in the country. 

The Law School continued to prosper, and in 1880 
the School of Political Science was established. Lec- 
tures upon political economy had been delivered as 
early as 1818, and Professor Lieber's course had af- 
forded a brilliant exposition of the principles of 
international law; but no scheme of systematic inde- 
pendent instruction in these and kindred subjects was 
provided until the organization of the school. It 
aimed to give a complete general view of both exter- 
nal and internal polity, from the point of view of law, 
history, and philosophy. It was a new departure, but 
it was most timely, and it has exerted a deep and 
far-reaching influence, as well through the publica- 
49 



tions of its officers and graduates as by means of the 
instruction it has afforded its students. Under Presi- 
dent Barnard's administration the library was greatly 
enlarged, and a liberal policy was adopted which 
rendered it available at all hours to every student, 
whether connected with the college or not, who de- 
sired to avail himself of its resources. In 1883 a 
collegiate course of study for women was opened, 
and from this was developed Barnard College, which 
was established six years later, with the official ap- 
proval of the trustees, Columbia undertaking to give 
the instruction and to confer degrees upon such 
women as should pass the examinations. 

At the beginning of Dr. Barnard's administration 
public attention was absorbed by the great political 
issues then pending, and the students and graduates 
of Columbia showed themselves no less patriotic 
than their predecessors of King's College. Over 
four hundred of her sons gave themselves to the ser- 
vice of their country in the army afid navy; while 
others filled important offices on the National De- 
fence Committee and the Sanitary Commission. 
Doubtless the War of the Rebellion somewhat retarded 
the growth of the college, but during Dr. Barnard's 
incumbency it began to receive a more adequate 
return from its real estate, and was in receipt of an 
income less out of proportion to the needs of a great 
institution. The president and the trustees were not 
slow to seize the opportunity to carry into effect their 
long-projected plans for expansion and development. 
When Dr. Barnard came to the college there were six 
50 



hundred and twenty-two students upon the rolls. On 
his retirement, twenty-five years later, there were 
seventeen hundred and twelve. During the same 
period the teaching staff was increased from twenty- 
three to about one hundred and fifty, and the devel- 
opment of the institution upon the educational side 
was in like proportion. President Barnard died April 
27, 1889, devoting his fortune, as he had his life, to 
the college. On February 3, 1890, Seth Low, of the 
Class of 1870, was installed president. The date will 
always be recognized as the beginning of the new era 
in the history of the college. 



COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 

Great as had been the development of the college 
under President Barnard, forces had been accumulat- 
ing tending to still greater expansion, and the time 
and the man had now come for the realization of 
Columbia's possibilities as a university. President 
Low's wide experience and catholic sympathies put 
him in touch with the city, and his progressive mind 
at once grasped the requirements and opportunities of 
the situation. Administrative reform was the first 
need of the institution, in order that its advantages 
might be rendered available and a consistent and 
systematic enlargement of its scope made practica- 
ble. Within the first two years of President Low's 
administration this was accomplished. The college 
was reorganized on a imiversity basis, with the Schools 
51 



of Medicine, Law, Mines (since expanded into the 
Schools of Applied Science, embracing mining, chem- 
istry, engineering, and architecture), Political Science, 
Philosophy, and Pure Science, under the general guid- 
ance of a university council, for the prosecution of 
professional and advanced study; and its School of 
Arts, which has since resumed its original title of col- 
lege, for undergraduate instruction. Courses of study 
were coordinated and new departments were estab- 
lished. Since 1890 the teaching staff has been 
increased to two hundred and eighty-eight, and the 
number of students matriculated during the present 
year will exceed eighteen hundred. In 1891 the Col- 
lege of Physicians and Surgeons was formally con- 
solidated with Columbia, and became an integral part 
of the corporation ; reciprocal relations were estab- 
lished with the several theological seminaries of the 
city, and courses of public lectures were instituted; 
and in the following year the Teachers College 
became allied to Columbia. A number of fellowships 
were established for the encouragement of advanced 
research ; and relations were entered into with the Met- 
ropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural 
History, the collections serving to illustrate the lec- 
tures given by the college. Still more recently the 
undergraduate curriculum has been largely increased 
in scope and latitude, and so arranged as to afford in 
logical sequence the preliminary training requisite for 
admission to any of the professional schools. 

In all directions the college and its schools were 
broadened and strengthened with an almost startling 
, 52 



rapidity, but with a sureness and wisdom which have 
already found ample justification. This extensive 
growth served to demonstrate the entire inadequacy 
and unfitness of the present site ; and in 1892 the trus- 
tees determined upon removal, and contracted for the 
purchase of four blocks of land on the summit of Mom- 
ingside Heights. Such an undertaking, involving an 
original outlay of two million dollars, demanded no 
small measure of courage and of confidence both in 
the possibilities of the college and in the liberality 
of the alumni and of the city of New York ; but the 
generous gifts already received show that that con- 
fidence was not misplaced, and the just pride which 
the city now feels in Columbia gives promise of even 
more generous support in the future. On May 2, 
1896, the new site was dedicated in the presence of 
the Governor of the State, the Mayor of the City, the 
trustees and faculties, representatives of other insti- 
tutions, and about five thousand people ; and at about 
the same date the college fitly assumed the title of 
university. 

The history of the new site dates from 1701, when 
Jacob deKey purchased his farm from the city; but 
it was not till September 16, 1776, that the event 
occurred which renders it memorable, and which can 
best be described in the words of an eye-witness : 

*' On Monday morning, about ten o' Clock, a party 
of the Enemy consisting of Highlanders, Hessians, 
the Light Infantry, Grenadiers, and English Troops, 
(Number uncertain), attack 'd our advanc'd Party, 
commanded by Coll. Knowlton at Martje Davits Fly. 
53 . 



They were opposed with spirit, and soon made to 
retreat to a clear Field, southwest of that about two 
hundred paces, where they lodged themselves behind 
a Fence covered with Bushes our People attack' d 
them in Turn, and caused them to retreat a second 
Time, leaving five dead on the Spot, we pursued them 
to a Buckwheat Field on the Top of a high Hill, dis- 
tance about four hundred paces, where they received 
a considerable Reinforcement, with several Field 
Pieces, and there made a Stand a very brisk Action 
ensued at this Place, which continued about Two 
Hours our People at length worsted them a third 
Time, caused them to fall back into an Orchard, from 
thence across a Hollow, and up another Hill not far 
distant from their own Lines. . . ." 

So wrote General Clinton to the New York Conven- 
tion describing the Battle of Harlem, which had been 
fought two days previously, on September i6, 1776. 
He presents a vivid picture, and we need but follow 
his description, beginning at " Martje Davits Fly," 
the meadow lying in the valley between One Hundred 
and Twenty-fifth and One Hundred and Twenty-ninth 
Streets, near the Hudson River, across the level 
ground to the foot of the northerly slope of Morning- 
side Heights, and up the hillside to the ** Buckwheat 
Field on the Top of a high Hill," and we find our- 
selves upon the field where the battle was fought : the 
field where Columbia is to stand. What was once the 
buckwheat field, made memorable by the first battle 
in which the American troops faced the British and 
routed them, has become the new site of Columbia ; 
54 



and where Colonel Knowlton fell the walls of the 
university are now rising. The college which the 
traveller of a hundred years ago described as the most 
beautifully situated in the world, once more looks 
forth upon the waters of the Hudson, but from a 
higher vantage ground and with the broader vision of 
the university. To the natural beauties of the situa- 
tion, which fit it so preeminently to be the home of 
learning, is added the element of historic interest, 
associating the university of to-day still more insepa- 
rably with the college of the Revolution. 

The land upon which the buildings are to be erected 
comprises a little more than seventeen aci^s. It is 
divided naturally into two levels. The southerly 
level or plateau, which is one hundred and fifty feet 
above high water and includes about ten acres, is the 
higher, and varies in elevation from five to ten feet 
above the surrounding streets. The buildings in pro- 
cess of erection are being constructed chiefly upon the 
higher plateau, thus preserving a fine grove of oaks 
and chestnuts that adorns the northern portion of the 
grounds, and leaving space for future development. 
The buildings are arranged in a series of quadrangles, 
but with spacious openings on the streets and avenues. 
The librar)^, already partially built, is to form the 
centre of the group, and its proportions and design 
will render it one of the most commanding features 
of Momingside Heights. The main approach to the 
grounds is from One Hundred and Sixteenth Street, 
by a broad flight of steps and a court three hundred 
and seventy-five feet in width by two hundred feet in 
55 



depth. Another flight of steps will lead to the por- 
tico of the library. Purely classic in style, the library, 
which will be surmounted by a dome, resembles in 
form a Greek cross. The width of the building will 
be one hundred and ninety-two feet, and the height 
of the dome one hundred and thirty-five feet. It will 
be constructed of Indiana limestone on a basement of 
Milford granite. The building is a memorial of Abiel 
Abbot Low, and is given by his son, Seth Low, the 
president of the university. 

To the east and west of the library are to be the 
chapel and the assembly hall, the latter being in- 
tended as a place of meeting for student organizations, 
such as the literary and debating societies and the 
glee club, and for public lectures ; and generally to 
serve as a centre for the social life of the students. 
Opposite each of these buildings will be an entrance 
from the adjoining avenue. 

Schermerhorn Hall, the northeasterly building on 
the plan, is the gift of Mr. William C. Schermerhorn, 
the chairman of the trustees, and will be devoted to 
the natural sciences. The adjoining building is des- 
ignated the " Physics Building " only until the name 
of a donor may be substituted. These buildings are 
also under construction. They are to be built of the 
over-burned brick of a dull-red color, generally known 
as Harvard brick, and of Indiana limestone. In style 
they are in keeping with the library, and represent to 
some extent a reversion to the best construction of the 
colonial period : Schermerhorn Hall offers a pleasing 
reminder of old King's College. Their simple and 
56 



dignified lines and generous windows fitly express the 
purpose for which they are to be used, and the inten- 
tion of the design to subserve the needs of modem 
scientific education. 

Havemeyer Hall, which is to occupy the northwest- 
erly angle of the upper plateau, will be erected as a 
memorial of Frederick Christian Havemeyer by his 
sons Henry O., Frederick C, Theodore A., and 
Thomas J. Havemeyer, his daughters Kate B. Belloni 
and S. Louisa Jackson, and his nephew Charles H. 
Senff. It has been especially planned for the study of 
chemistry, and eventually will be devoted exclusively 
to that department, but temporarily the u|^per floor 
will be used by the students in architecture. The 
engineering building, as well as the university build- 
ing, is also in course of construction. The university 
building will be situated immediately to the north 
of the library, about two hundred feet distant, and, 
next to the library, will be the most important and 
conspicuous building on the grounds. It will include 
a theatre, a dining-hall, and a gymnasium. The 
alumni have undertaken to raise a fund for the erec- 
tion of the dining-hall, to which they propose to give 
an historic and personal interest by making it the 
" Alumni Memorial Hall." Here are to be preserved 
the names and portraits of those sons of King's Col- 
lege who were among the founders of the Republic ; 
of those sons of a later day, Phil Kearney and his 
brave associates, who gave their lives to preserve the 
Union; and of all the long line of graduates who, 
from the time of the Revolution to the present, in the 
57 



service of the city, the state, and the country, have 
achieved distinction for themselves and their Alma 
Mater. Only a portion of the building' is to be 
erected at present, but it will advance as the means 
are forthcoming, and the design and plans already 
perfected indicate that it will be one of the most im- 
posing of the entire group. 

Of the other buildings for which space has been 
reserved, the particular uses remain to be determined 
by the rapidly increasing needs of the university. 
Possibly some of them may be used as residences for 
students, as the trustees have recently declared them- 
selves in favor of making provision for this want, but 
it seems more probable that such buildings will be 
erected by private capital on land adjacent to the 
university. A large residence-hall for students, to be 
known as " Hamilton Court," which has already been 
projected, bids fair to supply what has long been one 
of Columbia's greatest deficiencies. The reestablish- 
mentof the student life which existed in King's Col- 
lege will add not only a most attractive feature but 
an important element of strength to the new life of 
the university. 

To realize to the full the great opportunities afforded 
by its environment is the duty that now confronts the 
university. The loftier elevation and greater extent 
of its new site should find expression in the higher 
ideals and broader scholarship of the university, in 
an influence for good more far-reaching and potent. 
That these results will follow is best assured by the 
progress that the university has made during the past 
58 



few years under conditions far less favorable. To the 
advancement of the highest, and broadest, and sound- 
est learning the university stands pledged, irrevocably ; 
while upon the material side the best professional tal- 
ent, after the most careful study, has projected the 
lines of future development. The generosity of Co- 
lumbia's graduates, officers, and friends has already 
afforded conspicuous evidence both of their confidence 
in the work that the university is doing and of their 
belief in the complete success of her present enter- 
prise. 

" Upon the university," said Mayor Hewitt in his 
address upon the dedication of the new site, ''we 
must build the foundations of our municipal glory 
and greatness. ... So far as the city of New 
York is concerned, the Columbia University must be 
made the fountain head of knowledge, the centre from 
which will flow the conservative and recuperative prin- 
ciples of social progress. . . . The city which 
is its home will feel its influence in every profession, 
in the walks of business, in its public institutions, in 
the conduct of its churches, in the execution and 
administration of the great undertakings which will 
be demanded by its continued growi:h. Its citizens 
will come to its halls for instruction, for guidance, 
and for inspiration, and as they approach the portal 
of a higher municipal life, and are confirmed in noble 
aims, they will feel the force of the prophetic motto 
of King's College, the mother of Columbia Univer- 
sity in the city of New York, In lumine Tuo vide- 

BIMUS LUMEN," 

59 



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